Wild prairie flower / Flor silvestre de pradera

Uruguay´s highly complex and biologically diversified climax vegetation consists of prairie grasslands in which lawn and creeping grass varieties prevail. These comprise overall approximately 2,500 different species, distributed in over 80 families, including more than 400 species from the graminaceae family. Despite the impact of grazing by cattle, sheep and horses over the past three centuries, the native grassland has shown a remarkable capacity to adapt and retain its biological and economic sustainability. In the past, the prairies formed the principal pillar of Uruguay’s economic development as well as of its social and political history. Even today, native pasture still accounts for over 80% of land use and remains as important as ever for Uruguay’s export trade (meat, wool, leather and dairy).